


From the Eyes to the Heart

by upinthehoodings



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: 2015-2016 NHL Season, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-17
Updated: 2017-01-17
Packaged: 2018-09-18 03:13:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9365528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/upinthehoodings/pseuds/upinthehoodings
Summary: The Huttanen bromance is weird. Everyone's cool with it, but there's something different about the dynamic, and no one can really put a finger on it.Or, Hansen is somehow the first guy on the team to see the romantic potential in them.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know how there aren't any Ben and Jake fics on here yet but I finally made one. I hope you all enjoy (ya know, leave a comment and kudos if you did (;)!

Out of the twenty-three guys on the roster, Hansen notices it first. During practice, Jake gets hit in the eye by his shot, and has to leave the ice to get stitched up. Hansen feels bad, but Jake’s laughing it off immediately, and the guilt fades away slightly. Hansen receives a couple words of shit talk from Jake as he walks down the tunnel, earning a few chuckles by the defensemen standing near the bench. He returns soon after, a black eye visible already. Practice goes by smoothly; no one else was hit with a piece of rubber, fortunately.

Someone in the media scrum asks Hansen if he’s gonna owe Jake lunch, to which he deadpans, “That guy doesn’t need lunch.” The reporters respond with a laugh. He glances over at Jake, who doesn’t have a group of people around him, and sees the kid roll his eyes. He answers a few more questions about the game against the Predators later that night until they decide to move on to their next target.

Once the locker room is cleared out from anyone press-related, he continues to take off the rest of his gear for a post-practice shower. Most of the guys are keeping to themselves, but a few conversations are going on across the room. Someone moves from the corner of his eye. He looks up to see Hutty striding over to Jake’s stall. Jake has a huge smile plastered on his face, a smile that Hansen’s never seen him direct toward anyone else. His working eye is a baby blue shade, crinkling in the corner. He watches Jake’s face turn red as if he were a chameleon, and focuses on the scene folding out before him. All the other guys are moving about, paying no attention to the two rookies, nor Hansen watching them. If someone saw him, they would have given him shit about taking Prusty’s job as the babysitter.

Jake and Ben are conversing quietly enough that Hansen can’t hear anything they’re saying; it’s not like he would be able to anyway from across the damn room. Someone — Baer, he thinks — walks in front of him ask Jake and Ben do their special handshake. He catches the tail end of the shake, and suddenly, his anger at Baer disappears. Because with his own two (working) eyes, Hansen’s vision trails to Jake’s hand. It lingers on Hutt’s back, slowly inching down. He waits to see how far down it’ll end up, but disappointment falls on him when Jake retracts his hand and walks away.

Hansen looks around, hoping that someone else had some sort of awareness to witness the same thing. No one does, however, so he’s left alone in his own thoughts on a quiet walk to the showers.

_____

Henrik is the next one to notice. It’s during the All-Star break, and Daniel’s in Nashville, playing with the likes of Brent Burns, Johnny Gaudreau, and of course, John Scott. A majority of the team fly to their hometowns to visit their families, or elsewhere for vacation, but those who stay in Vancouver have a chance to bond even more. He receives a text in a thread that includes only the guys remaining in the city. It’s an invitation from Ben to watch the All-Star game at his condo. Johanna is taking Valter and Harry out for a ‘Mom and Kids’ Day Out,’ as she likes to call it, so he has the day to himself.

When he knocks on the door, he’s expecting to be the first one there. But when the door opens and Jake is grinning at him, he’s a little caught off-guard. Henrik returns the smile, lightly brushing past the rookie as he enters through the door. He observes the simple layout of the place, like Ben hasn’t fully moved in yet. There are multiple pictures mounted on walls and sitting on tables and shelves. It takes Henrik a few minutes to realise half of them include Jake. Then he comes across an array of frames of Jake and his family.

Oh. Henrik’s an idiot.

“The captain has arrived!” Ben nearly yells. An array of snacks are displayed on the kitchen island, all relatively healthy, thankfully. McCann, Tanev, Hansen, Hammer, and Vey are lounging on the grey sectional, waiting for the second game to start between the Pacific and Central teams. Vey scoots over, nearly sitting on top of Canner, to make room for Henrik. He laughs when Canner tries pushing Vey onto the floor and fails, even though Vey is a tad smaller than him.

Bo texts the group and says he’s busy with Holly, but he can make it for the final game. Henrik observes the leftover seating; there’s a loveseat left, only big enough to fit one hockey player on it. When Daniel’s name is mentioned in the Pacific lineup, the guys in the room all cheer. Canner and Tanev are waging on who wins; Tanev’s taking the Central, because “fucking Kane, duh.” Canner is taking the Pacific, because “fucking John Scott, duh. And Daniel, of course,” he adds, glancing at Henrik with a sheepish look. The captain smiles to himself because of how the rookies act around him, like they’re stepping on glass. He isn’t an unapproachable person — soft-spoken, but he still has a sense of humour.

Jake and Ben appear in his peripheral. They shove each other lightly for space on the loveseat, until Ben concedes and lets Jake splays himself on both cushions. Henrik wonders if the other guys notice them. The puck drops, but the only other guy not paying attention to the screen is Hansen; his eyes are also stuck on the two kids. A loud “Get the fuck off of me shithead!” erupts from the little space to Henrik’s right at the same time John ‘All-Star’ Scott scores to tie the game and quiet Canner is jumping out of his seat.

The next time Henrik looks over, Jake’s laying on his back, and Ben is sitting on top of his thighs; Jake’s hands are fiddling with the hem on the side of Ben’s team sweatpants. No one else bats an eye. Henrik’s been in the NHL for 15 years, and he’s seen so many close relationships develop over time between his teammates as well as players from other teams, but there was something different. Hansen’s fixation on the two starts to creep him out, so he gives up and turns his attention back to the game.

Daniel scores twice in the second period as the Pacific routs the Central. Tanev hands over a couple of twenty dollar bills to McCann, who sports a shit-eating grin. Bo arrives with Baer because Holly and Laura want to do some shopping together. In between games, all ten guys are circling the island to snack. Hammer engages Vey in a conversation about the standings, ignoring the fact that the Canucks are less than likely to even slot into a wild card position.

He’s reaching for another carrot when Hansen nudges him. “Hank,” he whispers in his iconic Danish accent, the one that Cory Schneider can nail perfectly. “Let’s go see what else is on.” There are thirty minutes prior to the start of the final game, and whatever post/pre-game show isn't really cutting it. Henrik is glad when none of the other guys are calling after him and Hansen. Besides, they’re only in the living room.

“You see it, too, don’t you?” Hansen asks first thing when they’re out of the ears of their teammates. He reaches down for the remote control and starts flicking through the guide. “Virt and Hutt, I mean.”

Henrik only nods. He doesn’t want to assume anything, it’s none of his business anyway. But he can’t help but look it it’s displayed right in front of his eyes.

“They’d tell me if anything is actually going on, right?” Henrik isn’t sure; the entire team is accepting of gay players, but again, he believes his circumstantial approachability might play a role in why neither boys have said anything. That’s only assuming that they do have a thing. He’s definitely not one to want to jump to conclusions.

“They’re both outgoing enough to say something. If they come to you, then you have your answer.” Hansen finds a show on Discovery Channel about penguins, and keeps it on that for the time being.

Henrik ponders more, but decides to leave it alone when everyone’s back and all eyes are glued onto the screen.

_____

Miller doesn’t want to intervene. He’s the third person to notice, and it’s a bit painful, too.

The team wins against the Sens at home; Matt fucking Bartkowski scores two goals, and his mom is the one that steals the show. Dorsett suggests they go to a local bar to celebrate the win, and the fact that Bart, Etem, and Virt snatch up all three stars of the game.

All of the single guys go, as well as some of the married dads, a, to enjoy themselves, and b, to make sure the young guys don’t do anything stupid. Players like Henrik, Daniel, Burrows, and Hamhuis return to their homes for some relaxation with their families.

Miller’s sitting at a table with Dorsett, sipping a drink that he doesn’t really recognize, but he couldn’t care less at the moment. McCann, Hutt, and Baer are perched on bar stools at the counter, talking vividly about video games or something. He looks over farther down the counter, and sees Bo and Virt chatting. Bo keeps looking over and pointing to what Miller sees is just a random guy. He looks young, and lonely, considering he’s occupying a table to himself.

The next thing that happens is something Miller doesn’t expect, but he’s not judgmental. Jake gets up from his seat, earning a soft pat on the shoulder from Bo. He walks past his fellow rookies to the table with the lonely guy, immediately striking up a conversation. The guy seems to perk up, and it’s totally obvious that he watches the Canucks and recognises the kid. Jake’s a fan favourite hometown boy, anyway. Miller wouldn’t be the first person in the locker room to also say Jake has really good looks; he could easily swoon anyone, guy or girl. They continue to speak, a laugh emitting from the table every so often. Dorsett is oblivious to the entire situation; he has his back facing the rookies. One could say he’s not doing his duty very well. Miller checks his attention back to the other three boys. He’s wearing a straight face, but it falls in a fraction of a second once his eyes come across Hutt’s facial expression.

Hutton’s paying no attention to the back-and-forth conversation between McCann and Baer. Instead, he’s frowning at the table that Virt is sitting at. Miller wants to walk right over to him and snap him out of his trance, but his thoughts are interrupted when Baer turns Hutt’s eyes away from the unfolding scene. Next thing he knows, Baer’s got his arms wrapped around the tall defenseman in an effort to cheer him up over something he isn’t actually aware of. Miller’s heart sinks. He’s a married guy with a child of his own, and will never understand what it’s like to be smitten with a teammate, but he can’t help but feel for the kid.

Bo joins the group, absentmindedly talking loudly about Jake and the guy he set him up with. Miller sees Hutt excuse himself before he walks over to him and Dorsett. Miller cringes mentally when Jake has a little jump in his step coming over at the same time to say that he’ll see them at practice the next day before his ‘date’ follows him out of the bar. Miller can’t begin to comprehend the way Hutton feels, watching the whole thing unfold. Miller’s still processing everything that happened, and is a bit tongue-tied when the defenseman is still standing before him. So Hutton waves at him silently. He’s ducking his face, Miller can tell, and walks out the door alone, into the rainy night.

Dorsett is still oblivious.

_____

When Chase De Leo, from the damn Winnipeg Jets, notices, he actually does something about it. Maybe because he’s a pretty good friend of Jake’s, and won’t put up with any of his shit.

The Canucks are in Manitoba in late March for the first of a short three game roadie. The plane touches down at noon the day of the game. Willie schedules a short practice an hour afterward in order to get their legs moving.

Practice is run evenly and efficiently, meaning that no one gets injured, or gets distracted much. They’re done by two in the afternoon (central time), and the guys have time to walk around the city and enjoy themselves a bit before returning to the rink for pre-game. Henrik wants the whole team to have lunch together, but some guys already have plans, including rookie Jake himself. No one minds, though. Players do have friends in other cities, which is Jake’s case.

Chase meets him in a little coffee shop near the MTS. They hadn’t seen each other since their last vacation together, and Jake’s definitely gained some muscle. Chase flashes a smile when they meet eyes, and goes in for a full bear hug. He misses this. Jake’s been the younger brother he’s always wanted for the past couple of years, ever since the 2014 draft combine. Now they’re both here, both NHL players.

“Welcome to the big club, bud,” Jake cheers. His eyes are the ocean, and Chase can understand why anyone would drown in them — he has no physical attraction to Jake, whatsoever. Their relationship definitely falls under brotherly love, or a bromance or whatever. Chase takes his mind off the matter when he begins to overthink it.

“Oh, uh, thanks man. I can’t believe I’m gonna kick your ass tonight in the big leagues.” Jake lightly punches him in the arm. They’re sitting down, waiting until the line shrinks because both of them know that they’re too lazy to stand and wait.

Chase notices Jake’s phone light up with a text, to which Jake smiles down at it and proceeds to type away into the device. It's definitely a different smile compared to all other ones Jake wears.

“Okay, what am I missing? Who is she? Or he?” Chase nudges Jake foot with his own. Chase knows Jake doesn’t date, like, ever. He’s into both guys and girls, but he’s not going to actually do anything about it. So the fact that Jake’s quiet and grinning is really suspicious to him.

“Nothing, dude. Just a funny tweet Bo sent me.”

“That’s not what your face showed. Don’t lie to me, Virt. I can still see through that thick ass skull of yours. C’mon.”

Jake rolls his eyes. “I promise you, it’s nothing. There’s no one.” It’s complete bullshit. Jake’s a terrible liar. His hands are fidgeting quite a bit, and Chase can feel his leg bouncing up and down. Jake’s a complete idiot because his phone’s still unlocked, so Chase takes the opportunity to grab it.

“Chase, what the fuck?” Jake whispers harshly; he doesn’t want to cause a scene in front of the other customers. He’s reaching over the table, making grabby hands and smooshing Chase’s face with them. “Give me my fucking phone back, you asshat.”

“Not until you tell me who it is. Or, I can search for myself.” Chase starts swiping through his phone to find the messaging app. The most recent person he’s texted is put in his phone as  _ Hutty (: _ .

“Ben Hutton?” Jake freezes. His ears turn red as he sits back down.

Chase places the phone back on the table. He’s good at keeping secrets. Especially something like this. It’s really cute, actually. He follows both of them on Instagram, and has seen all of the posts of them together throughout the season.

Jake’s face deadpans. “We’re not together.”

“Are you sure? Because from your teammate trivia and NHL 16 videos, I wouldn’t doubt it for a second that you two have something special behind closed doors. And you live in the same condo, too."

Jake stands up, as if he’s going to leave. He motions for Chase to follow him, only to get in line to order. A couple of minutes later, they’re returning to their small table by the window, drinks and sandwiches in hand.

“Listen, Virty.”

Jake takes a bite out of his grilled panini. He doesn’t say anything, but his eyes look up from his plate. Chase assumes that’s his cue to continue speaking.

“I don’t know what games you’re playing if you’re not together, but you gotta do something about it. Does he know you like him?” More sandwich chewing.

“I guess not,” Chase mumbles. It’s like he’s talking to a wall. Jake’s a stubborn asshole, but Chase can get through to him. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you. He might feel the same way, but you’d never know if you don’t ask, or at least tell him how you feel. He’s a polite guy. The worst thing that could happen is him kindly saying he’s not interested.”

Jake continues eating. Chase doesn’t speak anymore, because his stupid sandwich is already getting cold. Every time he looks back up to Jake, the guy is staring down at his plate, lost in thought. Maybe he does get to him.

_____

The Jets are up against the Nucks 1-0 early in the third period from Adam Lowry’s sixth of the season. Chase is getting limited minutes, but he’s enjoying every second of it. He’s playing against Jake’s line a couple of times, as well as facing Hutton’s defensive pairing. They’re solid players, but it’s evident that their team as a whole just can’t seem to put it all together. It’s a pretty sad sight from an outsider’s perspective, like Chase, and he can’t imagine what it’s like within the Vancouver organisation.

Schiefele seals the win with 23 seconds left in the game. Chase isn’t on the scoresheet, but he doesn’t really expect himself to be in the first place. He’s happy that the Jets won, let alone him receiving any sort of ice time.

He’s waiting outside the visitor locker room when Ben Hutton walks out. “Good game, Hutt,” he calls, hoping that Ben will stay back and talk with him. Chase isn’t as close with him as he is with Jake, but they have an established friendship since about a year ago. He sighs in relief when Ben backtracks to the wall that Chase is leaning against.

“How’s it going, man?” Ben asks as they go in for a bro hug. “Congrats on making it to the big show.”

“Thanks,” Chase beams. Ben’s a really good guy. So kind and humble, and a witty sense of humour. Jake’s lucky to have a guy like him. “Good to see ya. I’ve been good, I’ve been good. How about you?” He was going to have to ease it into the conversation, somehow.

“Could be better.” Ben shrugs. “I mean, look at our season.”

“To be fair, management seemed to integrate a bunch of rookies this year for you. It won’t be too long until guys like you, Bo, Virt, Boeser and Demko will be leading the Nucks to their first cup. I’ll be cheering for you guys, unless we’re facing each other in the playoffs. Then the friendship is off.” Ben chuckles, thank God.

“How’s the bromance with Jake, anyway?” Chase grins. Ben blushes instantly, and Chase knows the answer. “Are you keeping his ego in check?”

“For the most part, I guess. He’s a real pain in the ass when you try to wake him up from a nap.” Chase had to deal with Jake’s crippled ass through the drafting process since they roomed together in Philadelphia. He shares a bit of Ben’s pain.

Ben looks around the hallway quickly to see if anyone’s listening in. All of the training staff are busy wheeling back and forth equipment and bags to the bus. The players are either still in the locker room, or already boarding the charter.

“Don’t tell anyone, promise?”

Chase nods. “Cross my heart.”

“Since the beginning of the season, I’ve kinda wanted the bromance thing to be sort of, real, I guess? I don’t know. I first met him in the prospects camp in 2014, and then during main camp this year, we got to know each other better and feelings just spiraled for me and I don’t know what to do.”

Chase feels like hugging the stress out of Ben, but Ben wants help, not pity. So he settles for this: “Just tell the guy, honestly. You never know, it might go better than you expect.” It brings him back to his conversation with Jake, but Chase is more confident that Ben will actually speak up about whatever’s going through his mind.

“I’ve never fallen in love with a teammate, especially one who’s also my best friend. I just — I don’t know. What if Virt hates me?”

“And what if he doesn't?"

Chase touches his own mouth, because last time he checks, his lips are sealed. He peeks over Ben’s right shoulder, and oh shit. Of course, fucking Jake out of all people is standing right there, arms crossed, a smirk gently playing on his face.

“Well,” Chase starts, taking a few steps back. “I’ll see you guys in the offseason. Good luck with your last games!” He takes off down to the parking garage before witnessing whatever that was about to happen. On the inside, he’s glad he’s the one who gets them to confront each other and come clean with their feelings. One satisfied wingman is what Chase De Leo is.

_____

In the offseason, it’s all over the hockey news, and everyone in the league is taking the relationship well. LGBTQ+ fans have new idols; the You Can Play Project has two new ambassadors. Closeted players build confidence to be themselves, and have that support. Even a few of last year's top draftees find their voice and come out. Dylan Strome, Jake recalls, is one of them.

The bromance still goes strong, with a lot of jostling, and a little of kissing, in between. Chase checks in every once in awhile to make sure he doesn’t have to fly over to Vancouver to beat someone up.

Management shoves their relationship into the spotlight for marketing purposes, and Jake and Ben are okay with that. Though Bo disagrees, because the Aquilini’s are taking advantage of their dynamics. And Bo’s right, but Jake doesn’t want to acknowledge it.

When the rest of the team finds out, on the plane ride from Winnipeg to Nashville, the team is arguing over who called it first. Miller and Dorsett are bickering about what happened at the bar in late February, but Dorsett can’t recite whatever actually did happen, and Ben can vouch for what Miller saw.

It isn't long until Henrik starts talking, and even Daniel is shocked. “You didn’t tell me about this? I’m your twin!” Everyone is throwing fits of laughter around a betrayed Daniel Sedin.

“Actually,” Hansen chimes in after catching his breath, “I get the honour of being the first to see the potential of a relationship back in January when Virty here was being too touchy with Hutt in the locker room.”

“When did that happen?” Jake counters.

Hansen is smug. “After practice the day I shot the puck and it got your eye. Before then, I’m gonna go out and say no one saw past the potential of a good friendship, but you guys definitely opened my eyes afterward.”

“Unlike Jake,” Ben coughs before all of the guys are cracking up again.

“You’re supposed to take my side, asshole!”

Ben kisses him right then and there. If it’s a way to shut Jake up, then Ben will gladly do it again and again. Guys are high-fiving each other, even going up to the media section of the plane and fist bumping them. It’s a good day.

**Author's Note:**

> -The games in the story are true to the 2015-16 schedule.  
> -Link to [Hansen's Chirp](http://twitter.com/canucks/status/692064628562534400)  
> -Hope you enjoyed! (:


End file.
